2010 Feb

2010 February newsletter - No 1

FOR YOU

Editorial

Dear GSLS members and friends,

The new year will be a special challenge for the Graduate Schools as we are entering the second phase of the Excellence Initiative. However, since the establishing of the GSLS some three years ago we have slowly but steady received positive feedback. A video by the DFG (German Research Foundation) gives you an impression of our way and of the GSLS´ objective to discover the "secrets of life".

A Passage to Excellence - A Message to Excellence. You may have liked the slogans, you may have not. Why don´t you tell us? What would you think is a really good GSLS slogan? Please impart.

In 2010 you can again expect any possible support by the GSLS, and look forward to an even wider range of offers. The GSLS team keeps on trusting in the aspects of quality, pioneering, interdisciplinarity and internationality, and we look forward to another year full of ideas to share.

With kind regards,Rose Liebert

In this newsletter you will again find the five sections1. Featured Paper 2. Doctoral Students´ Affairs 3. GSLS Newsdesk 4. University News 5. Off Campus

1. Featured Paper

The awardee of the 2nd round from the featured paper contest has been chosen. The DSC and the GSLS board wish to congratulate Felicitas Müller (Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery and Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, formerly at the Institute of Clinical Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry, University of Würzburg). She is awarded with a prize of 250 euros for a conference participation or external research stay. Appraisal.Read more

GSLS doctoral students are invited to email their publications dating from December 2009 onwards to run for the next "Featured Papers".

2. Doctoral Students´Affairs

For your messages

News & notices, dates & facts. Are you looking for new friends to play cards with? Do you want to share your research findings with somebody from another section? You may post any message here.

The English Drama Group(EDG) of the University will put on a play 'The Memory of Water' on Feb. 3rd, 4th and 5th at 20:00 in the Stadtmensa. More information about this play, history of former performances of the EDG can be found here. Tickets available every weekday from 11:00-14:00 in the HublandMensa. For reservation please contact Fr.Hedrich at 0931-3181125.

4. University News

People

New scientific referent for the president. Josef Wilhelm (46) studied biology in Würzburg and then worked for the Job Center. He says he wants to focus on a close partnership with schools to inspire young people to take up a university study in Würzburg.

New university press spokesmanGeorg Kaiser(59), former university vice president,was appointed by president Forchel.

Award

Bringing great ideas to life: biophysicist Rainer Hedrich has been awarded 2.5 million euros from the European Research Council. With this money he wants to carry on researching on carnivorous plants. Read more (in German). Two years ago GSLS vice dean Martin Lohse was awarded with this prize. Read more

Research findings

New findings suggesting several therapeutic strategies against malignant tumors of the immune system are described by the research team around Andreas Rosenwald in the international weekly journal of science nature. Read more

Bachelor

The first bachelor degree course in Biochemistry(B.Sc.) has been launched with 322 students. Read more (in German)

A new type of chair was established: Digital Humanities. Read more (in German)

Students´ Protests on the Bachelor-/ Master Study Programs

Although the governance and the senate of the Universität Würzburg have acknowledged the fact that the Bachelor-/Master study programs have to be amended – which has already resulted in new guidelines (ASPO) – protesting students occupied lecture halls at the end of last year. Both the protesting students and the University governance published open letters online to explain their views. In his last letter that was signed by all members of the university governance, by the deans of all faculties and by the women´s representative Professor Forchel announced that the Bachelor and Master study programs will be further improved to work more flexible. Read more (in German)

New medical doctor titles

Matthias Frosch, Dean of the Medical Faculty of this University, doesn’t think it is a good idea to restrict the Dr.med. exclusively for researching doctors and to additionally introduce the medical doctor title MD for practicing doctors. This might happen if the recommendations that the Wissenschaftsrat (Science Council) gave the Bundesregierung (federal government) will materialize. Read more (in German)

New location for the University´s Patent Office

Now at Sanderring 2, 97070 Würzburg

Former housing blocks turn into institutes

The so-called conversion work on the Leighton areal - a former American military base next to Hubland - has started. The new buildings and seminar rooms will be completed just in time before the double Abitur leavers will enroll at the university in 2011. Read more (in German).

5. Off Campus

Congress on Blood Clotting

Publicly Funded Knowledge

A petition dealing with free access to publicly funded knowledge has been submitted to the Bundestag. You may sign online. Read more

Contests and Prizes

Research on Services for a sustainable development (Dienstleistungen für nachhaltige Entwicklung) are prized in a contest by the Federal Ministery for Education and Research. Send in your paper by 19 February and read more (in German)

Postdocs of 2009 in Biology, Chemistry, Informatics, Mathematics, Neurosciences and Physics may apply by 28 February if they want to publish their excellent research results in a popular scientific article. Read more (in German)

Research

Würzburg

Fasching (Carneval): big parade on Sunday 14 February, 12:55 p.m. in the city of Würzburg. And again on Tuesday, 12:55 p.m., in Heidingsfeld - this is where you will meet the GSLS team!

Germany

Barack Obama Musical in Frankfurt/Main with the gospel chorus “Yes we can”. Read more

Jobs and Career

Jobs. Qualified foreigners will get the right for an equivalence check with German degrees in order to find adequate jobs on the German labor market – from 2011 on. Read more (in German)

Career. After Frank Appel had finished with his studies inChemistry and with his PhD in Neurobiology he was getting tired of struggling for first authorship papers. Moreover, it turned out that the job market for chemists was pretty tight. To make some money he started working in project management and counselling before he then sky-rocketed with the German post. Today he is CEO of Germany’s biggest postal authority. Read more (in German)

Chancellor Merkel warned Germans in her New Year´s address of tough times in 2010. Read more

Europe

Euro. Time bomb for the Euro due to Greece´s public deficit. Read more

The World

Technology from the Soviet space program adapted by Israeli and German scientists may offer volatile gas to power laptops and cars. Read more

Frontal overview of the brain of the desert ant Cataglyphis fortis,as seen with the confocal laser-scanning microscope. The structuresare highlighted through immuno-fluorescence with molecular markers.Photo by Sara Stieb, Integrative Biology

contact: liebert@gsls.uni-wuerzburg.de

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